Lenovo W530: Color calibration sensror - is it worth it?

Hello,

I am going to be purchasing a Lenovo W530 soon and I don't know whether to spend a little more and get the Color Calibration sensor or not. I will use the laptop for CAD work along with video editing and Photoshop work.

I plan to get the 1920x1080 FHD screen. My only question is whether the Color Calibration Sensor is a 'must have'. Is it worth the extra $70? How does it help (assuming it helps)?


Your comments and advice are appreciated!

Thanks,
Nicholas

 

For 70, it is probably middle of yes and no, a colormunki/ i1 display pro is wide gamut ready/perform well and sell for around 130
-200,and you can use it for other devices. I am not sure if the bundled one can use for other display.

The bundled calibrator should be factory calibrated with the display and I believe it is a colorimeter which excel in low light measurement compare to spectrophotometer(colormunki) .

So if you intend to get a calibrator anyhow and do not have other display that need one, then yes.

 

baii, do you know how well the bundled calibrator works, relative to a Spyder4, Huey, i1Display Pro or Colormunki?

 

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&...cID4rxzpaFckw&sig2=DLzpNzBR_hyn47nVe4B-Dg

Did some Google and seem like it is in the palm rest. If the hardware is same as the retail one, then it is pretty low end. Having that said, can't really comment how good it works, you need to consider even some high end monitor (nec iirc) is bundle with i1 display 2. The hardware is pretty cheap but it works.

Can't seem to find review that actually cross compare it to reference one.

 

The main complaint with the Huey Pro isn't the sensor, it's the fact that the... uhh, stick (?) doesn't have the light-blocking properties of a traditional puck-shaped colorimeter, which results in lots of interference from external ambient light sources. Since (according to that link) you close the lid to do the measurements, this thing could potentially be pretty decent.

Then again, a colorimeter is only as good as the software is, and that's another big unknown.

 

I have done all my work in the past on my desktop computer and other laptops and none of them had a color calibration sensor and I have not had any issues with color. I saw where the Lenovo W530 offered an option to get one and I didn't know if it is like a 'must have' option. For example I've heard from multiple sources that the FHD screen is a 'must have'. Sure, the lower end screen will work, but the sources I read said that if you're going to order the W530 it is highly recommended to spend a little more and get the FHD screen. I have not heard much on the color sensor and I didn't know if it was another highly recommended upgrade.

To be honest, I am not 100% sure what the color calibration sensor does. By my understanding (and correct me if I am wrong) it analyzes the light conditions you are in and adjusts the colors on the screen to have a better display.

If the sensor only increases the quality of the display minimally/not really noticeable than I will save my money and put my money towards a docking station or something.

Any advice is appreciated!

Thanks for the input so far,
Nicholas

 

I'll try to explain what the Color Calibration Sensor does in simple (if not entirely accurate) terms:

You know how when you get a digital photo printed at a grocery store photo lab, sometimes the image doesn't look 100% the way it did on your screen? How the sweater that looks completely red on your computer screen has a slight orange tint in the print? Well, that's because your monitor wasn't calibrated ¹ - your computer told it to show red-orange, but your monitor is showing red instead due to either inaccurate factory settings within the monitor's firmware ² or just plain age ³.

A Color Calibration Sensor's job is to detect and compensate for these kinds of issues. Essentially, it measures what color your monitor outputs when your computer tells it to show red-orange, and if it sees pure red, it tells your video card to output more yellow whenever it attempts to display red-orange, in order to compensate for your monitor's inaccuracy. Rinse and repeat for the other 24 million colors and presto, you now have an accurate display.

Finally, (and this touches on what baii and I were discussing), just as an expensive high-tech infared thermometer is a lot more accurate at reading the temperature than a cheap mercury bulb in a glass tube thermometer is, an expensive Color Calibration Sensor is better at reading colors than a cheap one is.

Ultimately, if you have never used a Color Calibration Sensor before, you're happy with what you see on your desktop monitor and your other laptops, and you don't intend to do any professional imaging work (such as editing TV shows for Viacom or freelance photography for National Geographic magazine), I would recommend that you skip the Color Calibration Sensor and spend the $70 on something else.





¹ It's also possible that the printer wasn't properly calibrated, though that's unlikely in a professional photo lab.

² What makes this so hard (or at least expensive) for the manufacturers is that each monitor requires its own unique profile - even 2 monitors coming off the same assembly line at the same time, one after the other, will have differences. Since manufacturers want to sell their monitors at the lowest price possible, they simply load a generic profile that's representative of the average monitor coming off the assembly line. It's only with the $1000+ premium monitors that manufacturers will individually measure each monitor and create a custom factory profile that fits that particular monitor perfectly.

³ Just as a brand new lightbulb will be brighter and whiter than a lightbulb that's been in use for a few months, your monitor's backlight fades and changes color over time too. It's very gradual and impossible to notice if you're using it on a day-to-day basis (you don't notice the lightbulbs in your ceiling light getting more yellowy until the companion bulb burns out and gets replaced, right?), but it happens. Without going too far off on a tangent, this is why professionals need to rerun the calibration process every few months.

 

I own the older Spyder 3 and combined with this software suite dispcalGUI i got my notebook monitor properly calibrated to get rid of slightly blue tint.
Think it supports other devices as well.

 

If this is for work then that $70 is well spent.

Calibration is what ensures that what you've spent your time editing on your screen is what will be delivered to your clients and/or print shop and what you should expect back as 'hard copy'.

CAD, video editing and PS work? Yes; definitely a must have item.

$70 to get this? Not even worth agonizing over - I've spent 10x to 100x that much each year (and more) to ensure a consistent state of my 'tools' (monitors, printers, different papers and different inks).

Even if the monitor is only slightly affected (before/after calibration) it is worth it for the reduction in eyestrain that a properly calibrated monitor offers.


If your previous equipment was never calibrated - you were just lucky (with the default calibration) or the images you delivered were retouched once again.

Again: work? Yeah, spend the $70.


Hope this helps.

Good luck.

 

I've used a w700ds with the huey color calibrator for the last 3.5 years and I wish it was something other manufacturers offered. It works very well, is fast and convenient, and works with the lid closed, negating the effect of ambient light. Unless $70 is going to cause significant financial hardship, I'd definitely get it. It may not be the best available calibrator, but as you are new to the use of these devices, this one is about a simple to use as possible.